Marriage, Musings, Mojuba

Give Him Some Sugar

May 26, 2010

Nowadays, the wedding cake seems to be an essential part of planning a wedding. As Franck Eggelhoffer in Father of the Bride astutely observes, “the cake can very often determine vhat kind of vhedding you end up having.” However, the elaborately beautiful cakes of today were not always the norm. In ancient Rome, the groom broke a piece of wheat or barley cake over the bride’s head to seal the marriage. Perhaps even less appealing is the medieval British recipe for “Bride’s Pye”, which included sweetbreads, oysters, spices, and lamb testicles. While Andrew Zimmern, of Bizarre Foods fame, might be brave enough to try this truly unappetizing recipe, we are glad these traditions are history!

The groom’s cake, a tradition that has roots in the South, is increasingly becoming more popular above the Mason-Dixon line. Typically given as a gift from the bride to the groom, this cake is often chocolate, “masculine” (i.e. soaked in liquor), and lacks the flowers and frills that often adorn modern-day wedding cakes.

The groom’s cake is usually displayed next to the wedding cake at the reception, and is sometimes cut into pieces and put into boxes for the guests to take home with them. Snagging a piece of the groom’s cake is especially important for all the single ladies at the wedding. According to legend, if a woman went to sleep with the cake under her pillow, she would dream of her future husband. Sounds messy, but worth it if George Clooney happened to make a cameo in her dream that night!

We at Mojuba Wedding love this tradition for lots of reasons. First of all, it’s a sweet way for the bride to make sure her honey feels included by adding some of his personality to the wedding. If the “wedding” cake is classic and elegant, the groom’s cake is a great opportunity to get creative and even incorporate his interests and hobbies. We’ve seen everything from alma matter cakes, to beer can cakes, to yacht cakes (see below); whatever floats his boat! Last but not least, we have a particular affinity for the South and its traditions: even though we now call Chicago home, one of us went to college in the South (go Wake!), and one took it a step further and actually married a southern gentleman!

Regardless of where you’re from, we at Mojuba feel it is always important to make the groom feel included and a groom’s cake is a great way to let him have a piece of the pie (or cake, as the case may be)!